Cape native's sculpture is People's Choice

A local artist is the winner of the People's Choice Award for the 2014 Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition on Broadway.

Ben Pierce, a Cape Girardeau native and graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, won the competition "by a landslide," said Arts Council of Southeast Missouri gallery manager Liz Montgomery. There were more than 50 submissions in the contest, which was featured on the arts council website from October through November.

His sculpture, "Lineage," is one of seven sculptures featured in the exhibition that has adorned the downtown corridor since April. The piece is easily identifiable by its stark white geometric forms and framed square of bricks.

A sculpture walk was hosted in October, and Montgomery said those in attendance were particularly interested in Pierce's work. She attributes part of the interest to his local roots, but also to the way his family and personal history inspired the piece. Pierce is the son of a third-generation stone mason, or brick layer, and incorporated those skills into "Lineage."

"That was the way his grandfather made a living," Montgomery said. "It's something his father learned, something he learned. ... It's a family tradition of a sort."

While Pierce uses the bricks to tell the story of his family, Montgomery said admirers of the sculpture may notice they also reflect the historic brick buildings surrounding the piece throughout downtown Cape Girardeau. The piece has "those foundations of the middle-class working man," she added.

"It seems like it should be there," she said of the sculpture on the south side of Broadway, between Middle and Fountain streets.

"Lineage" and the six other sculptures in the outdoor exhibition will continue to be featured until April, when new sculptures will take their place. The Public Art Committee used the people's choice competition to gather what types of pieces most interested the public and make more informed selections for the next exhibition.

"The committee has just recently selected the new works, so more information on that should be coming out soon," Montgomery said. "You will find that [public input] reflected in the new exhibition."

She recommended anyone who has not viewed the sculptures up close to take advantage of the final months.

Those interested in learning more about each piece or the artists may visit capearts.org.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

414 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.